updates

artist’s statement

Barbara McLean is a graduate of Graphic Design (Sheridan College) and has a BFA with a major in fine art (NSCAD University).

Both the abstract paintings and abstract landscapes that constitute the bulk of my work rise from a response to my home environment in Nova Scotia, the song of a hermit thrush in the early morning, the ferocity of a sudden snow squall, or perhaps
a day that is just not going the way I hoped; any of these can initiate a series of paintings. My goal is to communicate the sense of wonder and joy and sometimes frustration that I find
in my daily life. The exhibition Passages began in a time of personal insecurity. These works investigate the need to find one’s way through a painting, a day, a life — as an explorer and adventurer — as one who welcomes the challenge of the unknown. The canvases illustrate chance and circumstance, diversions and alternate routes, but perseverance is always in evidence. It is this sense of ongoing adventure that sustains me in painting and in life.